


Miseducation

by bcole4



Category: Bandom, Cobra Starship, Fall Out Boy, Panic! at the Disco, The Academy Is...
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, M/M, Underage Drinking
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-16
Updated: 2018-08-03
Packaged: 2019-06-11 14:22:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,846
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15317391
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bcole4/pseuds/bcole4
Summary: William, Brendon, and Patrick have been best friends forever. Through their amazing, terrible, incredibly awkward senior year of high school, they learn about love, friendship, each other, and themselves.(Told in alternating POV for each month of the school year)





	1. August: William

Brendon always told his parents he was “studying” with William and Patrick. Patrick always told his parents it was just a sleepover. And William never told his parents much of anything. 

No matter what the story was, they always knew they’d meet up at the same place: Tony’s Rock Bar. The plan never changed. Every Friday, William would grab some beers from the corner store that never carded and took the bus to the dirty, vacant-looking building just outside of town. Patrick and Brendon would carpool together. When all of the bands had played, and the boys were feeling sufficiently buzzed and bruised, they would pile into Patrick’s ancient Volvo and head to William’s house to eat junk food and dissect the show and then sleep till noon. It was tradition. And this year would be the last time they could enjoy it.

“I feel like everything’s gonna change,” Brendon said for the millionth time. “Senior year is a huge deal.”

“We have, like, every class together,” Patrick responded. “And we have next summer. It’s gonna be fine.”

“But then we’ll go off to different schools and meet different people and have different best friends,” Brendon complained.

“Nothing is gonna change,” Patrick said. “William, can you please tell Bren nothing is gonna change?”

William looked at his best friends and took a long drink of his Miller Lite. He wanted so badly to say that nothing would change, that it would just be the three of them forever. But he had other plans. He wanted to get out of Illinois as soon as possible. He wanted to meet different people and go somewhere like California, where he could totally reinvent himself. And if he had to say goodbye to Patrick and Brendon for a while in order to do that, he felt like he could.

“Brendon, we’re gonna be fine. We’re here now, right? Let’s please have some fun and forget all of the Senior year doom and gloom,” he said finally. It seemed to please both Patrick and Brendon, and that was enough for William.

“Hellooooo,” a voice from behind them sing-songed. The boys turned around to see Ryan, Brendon’s on-again off-again boyfriend, holding a bottle of coconut rum with a scarf tied around it.

“Hey, Ry,” Brendon said. William watched them eye-fuck each other. It was really hard to tell where Brendon and Ryan stood on any given day, but it seemed like they were sliding quickly into “on-again” territory.  

“Hi, B,” Ryan cooed. “Want some?” He offered the bottle to Brendon and Brendon only. Brendon took a swig of the rum and handed it back to Ryan, choking a little.

“I’ve got some eyeliner if you wanna borrow it,” Ryan said, again only to Brendon. “Come to the bathroom with me and I’ll make you up.”

Ryan turned around and walked toward the bathroom without waiting for a response. Brendon looked sheepishly at William and Patrick. 

“I guess I better go with him,” Brendon said. “I’ll catch up with you in a sec. Don’t move.”

“If you aren’t back by the time the show starts, we’re moving up front without you,” William replied.

“Yeah, and if you aren’t at my car 10 minutes after the show ends, we’re ditching you,” Patrick added.

Brendon nodded and ran off.

“Do you think Ryan’s magic? Like is there voodoo involved in this somehow?” Patrick asked.

“Probably. I mean, they’ve had sex. Sex is probably really powerful magic,” William reasoned.

“Plus Ryan’s, like, very hot.”

“I don’t know about VERY hot. But yeah, he’s nice to look at.”

The boys stared in the direction of the bathroom. William drank from his beer can. “Do you think they’re having sex in the bathroom right now?”

“I bet they are. I’m pretty sure after you start having sex, you just do it wherever you can.”

“I can’t believe Brendon was the first one of us to have sex.”

“I can’t believe I’m a Senior and a virgin.”

“I can’t believe I’m eighteen and a virgin. I may as well practice abstinence forever.”

“Me too,” Patrick sighed. He took a long drink from his beer. “Why do you get the worst beer, man? Can’t you get something good for once?”

“Good beer is for college. Beggars can’t be choosers,” William replied.

“Oh hey, he’s coming back,” Patrick said, pointing at a group of four guys. 

Brendon was definitely there, wearing heavy eyeliner and the scarf that had been on Ryan’s bottle of rum. Ryan was drinking straight from the bottle, talking excitedly to two guys that William didn’t recognize. 

One of them was short and muscular, with dark skin accented by a bunch of tattoos. He was wearing more eyeliner than Ryan and Brendon put together, and his bangs were overly flat-ironed. He looked like he was trying harder than Ryan to be edgy, which was really hard to do. And the other one…

Okay, the other one was beautiful. He was tall, but he wasn’t lanky like William. He looked like he probably worked out, although it was hard to tell under his purple hoodie. He had bright eyes and a wide smile. William wanted to know everything about him.

“Who are they?” William asked.

“No clue, but dibs on the guy with the tattoos,” Patrick said.

“Hey boys!” Ryan exclaimed when they got close enough. “This is my friend Pete. He’s in one of the bands playing tonight. And this tall glass of water is his friend Gabe. He just moved here.”

William found himself incapable of saying anything. He silently thanked god when Patrick said, “Hi, I’m Patrick and this is William. We’re Brendon’s friends.”

“This is so fun! It’s like a little party!” Ryan squaled, slipping his arm around Brendon’s waist. Brendon blushed.

“Nice look, Bren,” William said. “Did you use a whole stick of eyeliner for that?”

Gabe laughed. William felt his heart leave his body and drop to the floor. They looked at each other for a second before Pete said, “Well, I gotta get backstage.”

“Good luck,” Patrick said, oozing a confidence William had never seen before.

“Thanks,” Pete replied. “Your name’s Patrick?”

Patrick nodded. Apparently his new confidence only lasted a sentence.

“Cool,” Pete said. “Stick around so I can see you after the show, Trick.” He winked and walked off.

“Watch out for him,” Ryan warned. “He’s a heartbreaker. Just like my Brenny baby.”

“Just like who?” William asked, trying and failing not to laugh.

“Shut  _ up _ ,” Brendon whispered.

“Come on! Let’s get as close as we can,” Patrick said, pulling William’s arm and dragging him through the crowd. William grunted, trying to stay as close to Gabe as possible, but there was no way to get out of Patrick’s death grip. Not that William would have denied Patrick being close to the stage. He knew Patrick’s flirting style: don’t say anything and stay in the chosen guy’s line of sight long enough to be noticed. Luckily, Ryan was energetic and rude enough to push through the crowd to keep up. This was the first time William was happy Ryan was around.

All five boys were crammed together, and somehow William was stuck right in between Brendon and Gabe. The heat of Gabe’s body pressed against his back made William crazy. It also scared the shit out of him.

“I guess we should get more properly acquainted since we’re breathing each other’s air,” Gabe said suddenly. He was smiling the smile of someone who knew more than everyone in the room. It was intoxicating to look at. Or maybe William was just buzzed.

“Oh, uh, yeah. Hi, I’m William. But you can call me Bill. If you want.”

“Bill? That’s an old dude’s name. What are you, 16?”

William blushed. “I’m 18.”

“Oh, okay.” Something shifted in Gabe’s face, but William couldn’t tell what. 

“So you just moved here?”

“Yeah, I’m starting a new job next week. I was in California but I wasn’t really feeling it.”

“Wow,” William said. “That’s so cool. Like, you weren’t feeling a place so you just left. I can’t wait to be able to do that.”

Gabe smiled. “What’s stopping you?”

William blushed harder. At the moment, Gabe’s smile was stopping him. His smile and his laugh and the way he seemed to be making fun of everything without saying a word. William decided he wanted to be wherever Gabe was forever and ever.

The lights went down and the crowd roared.

“Is Pete’s band any good?” Patrick yelled from the other side of Gabe.

“Really good,” Gabe yelled back. “Get ready.”

Pete’s band came on without any introduction. The crowd went nuts anyway. Everyone shoved together and got as close to the stage as possible. In the shuffle, Gabe grabbed William’s waist from behind. William stiffened at the contact, which made Gabe laugh in William’s ear.

“Hey, Will, it’s okay. I just didn’t want to get lost,” he said into William’s ear. William couldn’t tell if Gabe had meant it for the group to hear or just him, but he looked around and knew no one else had heard it. Gabe let go of William, but he could still feel the heat of Gabe’s fingers and Gabe’s breath on his ear. He prayed that he would never forget this moment.

Pete’s band (which was a weird way to categorize the band, because Pete was playing bass- not usually a ‘frontman’ position) started playing. William knew immediately that they were good. Like, really good. He looked around and could see that Patrick knew it too. Patrick was entranced. He wasn’t looking anywhere but straight at Pete. It looked like he was panting. 

Suddenly, somebody shoved into William. William whipped around to see Ryan and Brendon violently making out. Like, violently. 

“That’s… graphic,” William shouted. “Can you not?” Ryan and Brendon didn’t seem to hear and didn’t look like they planned on stopping.

“Hey, forget about them,” Gabe shouted. “The show’s the most important thing.”

William looked at Gabe and smiled. Gabe smiled back. William followed his advice and let the music and the crowd take over, dancing and screaming and jumping around to songs he didn’t know. This was always the best part of his week. For two hours, he could forget being 18, being single, having to start school in a matter of days. He could be with the music. He could be with all of these other people he didn’t know. He could just… be.

Patrick left the group early. He shoved his way as close as possible, probably to maintain steady eye contact with Pete. Normally this would annoy William, especially if he was left with Ryan and Brendon, the grossest couple in the world. But Gabe was constantly next to him. William could feel him, could hear his shouts. It made the experience that much better.

Pete’s band was loud and fast and amazing, and William was a little upset when it was over. But in the lull between sets, Gade leaned into him and whispered, “Do you smoke?”

William looked around. Brendon and Ryan were too into each other to pay attention to anyone else, and Patrick was nowhere to be seen. William had quit smoking two weeks ago, but he could start again if it meant hanging out with Gabe. He nodded.

“Cool.” Gabe took his hand and led him through the crowd to the back door. It was all William could do to keep from swooning. 

They stepped outside into the muggy August air. Gabe leaned against the wall and fished for his cigarettes. He put one in his mouth and smirked.

“What?” William asked. He suddenly felt like he was on show, like Gabe was looking at every part of him.

In a swift motion, Gabe pulled a cigarette out of his pack, stuck it in William’s mouth, and lit it. It took William a second to remember how to inhale. Or how to breathe at all. Gabe chuckled.

“You okay, Will?”

William nodded and took a drag. “You’re really, uh, suave.”

“I guess.”

“So how do you know Ryan?”

“I don’t, really. Ryan and Pete are family friends. I’m staying with Pete for a couple days before I can move into my new place. And I don’t know anyone here yet, so I’m also tagging along with him everywhere he goes. I’m trying to make friends. This is kind of a weird group though.”

William looked at Gabe. He wasn’t sure if that was a joke, but he was upset. Why was Gabe spending so much time with William if he thought he was weird?

“I mean, y’all are just so young,” Gabe said, reading William’s expression. “Pete usually hangs out with people his own age.”

“Which is?”

“Mid-twenties. You know, people who can legally drink. Ryan stole that rum from his dad’s liquor cabinet.”

“Yeah, he tends to do that.”

“What’s their deal? Ryan and your friend.”

“I couldn’t tell you. They love each other, I think. But they fight and break up and make up a lot. I hadn’t seen Ryan all summer before tonight. It’s like they have their own secret language that none of us can figure out. They know when they like each other and when they don’t. We’re all just along for the ride.”

“Damn. You’re a good friend.”

“We’ve been friends forever.”

Gabe took a long drag from his cigarette. “So do you have a Ryan in your life?”

William choked on the smoke he was inhaling. “Uh, no. I don’t.”

“Can I try something?” Gabe was still grinning. William nodded. He would let Gabe try anything.

Gabe dropped his cigarette and stomped it out. He closed the small gap between them. He was staring daggers into William’s eyes. William wanted to ask him a million questions, but he knew they would all make him seem young and inexperienced. He felt small just standing next to Gabe, but he trusted him completely. He dropped his own cigarette. 

“I like the name ‘Will’ a lot. It’s a really nice name,” Gabe said. “It feels good to say.”

The he took William’s face in his hands and leaned toward him. He licked his lips and then, suddenly, he was kissing William. 

William had kissed a couple boys before. But it wasn’t like this. The boys William had kissed had no clue what they were doing, and William didn’t either. But Gabe knew. Every part of the kiss was a question. Gabe started soft, just grazing William’s lips. But when William pushed himself closer, Gabe pressed his mouth hard against William’s, coaxing his mouth open. He kept his hands on William’s face until William grazed his hips with his fingers, and then he pulled William against him by the belt loops on William’s jeans. William could feel that Gabe was hard, and he knew Gabe knew that he was, too. Gabe tasted like tobacco and beer and smelled like sweat. William carded his fingers through Gabe’s hair, trying anything to get closer, to feel as much as possible. 

William heard the crowd roar. He knew the next band was starting. He didn’t care. He wanted to keep making out with Gabe. He wanted to do more than that. He wanted to do everything right now in this parking lot.

But Gabe pulled away. “We should go back in, huh?” he whispered. “Our friends will worry.”

“Our friends didn’t even notice we left.” William knew he was pouting. He didn’t care.

Gabe laughed. “Look. I’m not like Pete, alright? When I like someone, I take it slow. Tonight will not be the night we fuck in the backseat of Pete’s car.”

William shuddered and blushed hard. No one had ever talked to him about sex like that. There was a promise in Gabe’s statement that drove William crazy.

“Come on,” Gabe said, taking his hand again.

And suddenly, they were back in the bar, back in the crowd. Gabe somehow found Ryan and Brendon immediately. Patrick had found his way back to them, too.

“Hey, where were you?” Patrick asked. “You left me here with the world’s most aggressively physical couple.”

“I’ll tell you on the ride home,” William said. Patrick responded with a knowing look and started dancing.

The two bands that played after Pete’s weren’t nearly as good. But Gabe kept pressing against William and holding onto his waist, and that made him feel better than Pete’s music did. 

At the end of the show, Patrick made everyone wait by the stage door for Pete. Gabe and William kept exchanging looks, but Gabe didn’t take William’s hand or wrap his arm around WIlliam’s shoulders like Ryan did with Brendon. William ached for the contact, but he didn’t dare initiate it himself.

Pete finally emerged from backstage and immediately smiled at Patrick. “My number one fan. Great energy tonight, Trickster.” he said, winking again. Patrick just laughed.

“Listen, Gabe and I gotta run,” Pete said, “but here’s my number.” Pete took Patrick’s hand and wrote his number down, causing Patrick to turn an entirely unnatural shade of red. William would have laughed, but he knew he had blushed more tonight than he had in his entire life.

“Don’t leave me hanging, okay?” Pete said. “Okay, Gabe, let’s go. Ryan, you need a ride?”

“Yeah,” Ryan said. “Come on, Bren.”

“Oh, uh, I can’t,” Brendon said. “It’s Friday, so I’m going home with these guys.”

Ryan looked like he was going to explode. But Gabe just smiled and said, “Loyalty is a good thing, man. See ya around. Talk to ya soon, Will.”

Gabe smiled a smile just for William and the three of them walked off.

“I can’t believe tonight is real,” Patrick said. “We have so much to talk about.”

“I know,” William responded.  
“Bill, you have to drive. I need to be able to read Pete’s number tonight.”

William nodded. And suddenly, he had a sinking feeling. “Fuck,” he muttered.

“What?” Brendon asked.

“Gabe never gave me his number.”


	2. August: Patrick

“You look great,” Bill said for the tenth time. Patrick turned around. Bill was laying on his bed, staring at the ceiling.

“You’d be a little more convincing if you were, ya know, looking at me,” Patrick huffed.

Bill sat up. “I’m sorry! It’s just that you keep putting on button-downs and jeans. Does it matter if the button-down is yellow or green? Not really. He’s probably gonna rip it off of you immediately anyway.”

Patrick felt himself blushing. He turned around and looked at himself in the mirror. His button-down accented his stomach and his jeans were a little too short. He looked like a teenager, which he was trying desperately to avoid. He was hanging out with Pete tonight, and although he couldn’t be sure, he was pretty sure this was a date. And that would mean Patrick was about to go on his first-ever date.

Patrick pressed on his stomach. “Why can’t we switch bodies for 24 hours? I’m so chubby.”

“No you’re not!” Bill said. “I’m a freaking skeletor. You shouldn’t compare yourself to me. Or to Brendon. You’re super attractive. Pete obviously thinks so.”

Patrick smiled. He loved Brendon, really, but Brendon never talked like this with him. The hot-and-heavy periods between Brendon and Ryan were annoying, but the one benefit was that he got to hang out one-on-one with Bill a lot.

“Okay, so what do I do if he wants to… you know…”

“Say no! Say… I don’t know, say your stomach hurts and you don’t want to be jostled around,” Bill laughed. Patrick chuckled too. This was the first time he was hanging out with Pete and he was really nervous, but Bill was great at relieving the tension.

“Hey, he should be here any minute,” Bill said. “I can’t believe you’re having him pick you up at MY house.”

“Come on, I just told my parents about the gay thing,” Patrick replied. “Can you imagine if they saw a guy covered in tattoos and makeup come to the door?”

“Fair,” Bill said. He cleared his throat and said, “Hey, listen, do you think you could ask about Gabe? Or like, say hi from me?”

Patrick rolled his eyes. Bill had been talking about Gabe for the past two days. When Patrick called Pete, he got Gabe’s number for Bill, but apparently Bill couldn’t get a hold of him.

“Are you sure you want me to do that? Are you sure you even kissed him? You weren’t having a hallucination or anything?” Patrick teased.

“Wow, good luck ever getting me to buy you beer again,” Bill huffed.   
  
There was a honk from outside.

“Holy shit,” Patrick said.   
  
“Hey, it’s gonna be okay. Just remember what we talked about. Don’t do anything you aren’t ready for, and call me if you need to get picked up. I’ll be here when you get back with Pizza Rolls and open ears.”

“Okay. Okay.”   
  
“And remember: no weird bathroom stuff. And say hi to Gabe from me!”

Patrick nodded and made his way outside. In front of Bill’s house was a junky red car. And there he was, wearing a tight hoodie and huge sunglasses and smoking a cigarette. Patrick’s heart jumped into his throat.

“Hey,” he said when he got into the car. Pete immediately beamed.

“Hey, Trick, long time no see,” Pete said. “You ready for a night of fun?”

Patrick nodded. “What are we doing?”

“Well,” Pete said as he pulled away from Bill’s house, “I thought we’d hang out at my apartment for a while, maybe order some pizza or something, and then we could go see my friend’s band later. I’m assuming you can’t spend the night?”

“No, uh, I have plans with my friend.”

“So loyal. Okay, no biggie. Mind if we stop here?” Pete said, pulling into a Starbucks drive through. “Sorry, I can never resist.”

“No problem,” Patrick said. He was fascinated by Pete. He just seemed to do whatever he wanted whenever he wanted. Maybe that was just adulthood. Patrick wondered if Pete understood how young Patrick was.

“You want anything? My treat.”   
  
“Uh, black coffee.”   
  
Pete took off his sunglasses and stared at Patrick. “That’s it?”   
  
“Uh, iced black coffee?”   
  
“Damn, okay. You gotta expand your horizons, Pattycake.”   
  
They pulled up to the drive through. “Yeah, I’d like to get a grande iced coffee and a venti Java Chip frappuccino with caramel drizzle and extra chips,” Pete said.    
  
“First window,” the cashier responded.   
  
“Holy shit,” Patrick said. “What were all of those words?”   
  
Pete laughed. “I’m very knowledgeable about this establishment. Sometimes you just need coffee that tastes like sugar.”

They got their coffees. Patrick’s looked normal, and Pete’s looked like something the popular girls brought to school. Patrick didn’t say anything.

On the ride to Pete’s apartment, Patrick sipped his coffee while Pete talked without stopping about the best drinks at Starbucks. Patrick was only half listening. He was looking at what he assumed was Pete’s neighborhood because of all the punk and hipster kids wandering around. This neighborhood was cool, cooler than where he and Brendon and Bill hung out. Everything about Pete was intimidating so far. Patrick wondered if he was getting in over his head.

Pete pulled up to a nondescript building. “You okay?” He asked. “You haven’t said much of anything.”   
  
“I’m okay,” Patrick replied.   
  
“Hey, don’t worry. I’m not gonna kidnap you or anything. I just think you’re cute. I thought we could hang out.”

Patrick relaxed. “Okay. Hey, is this a date?”   
  
Pete just laughed. “Come on, Trickster. I wanna show you my digs.”   
  
Pete lived on the first floor in a tiny one-bedroom apartment. Patrick was shocked at the amount of crap Pete had- basses and guitars and notebooks boomboxes and posters. And in the middle of it all was a beautiful drum set.

“Holy shit,” Patrick said. Pete laughed.   
  
“Like what you see?” he asked   
  
“Yes.”

“What’s mine is yours, Pattycakes. Poke around.”   
  


“Pete? Are you back?” a voice called from the kitchen. Gabe emerged, wearing pajama bottoms and a ratty tee shirt. 

“Hey Gabe. How’s the hangover?” Pete asked.

Gabe stiffened. “It’s fine. I didn’t know you were having company.”   
  
“Hi Gabe,” Patrick said. “Uh, Bill says hi.”

“Oh, cool. Yeah, I’ll give him a call today. Pete, I’m gonna shower and then run some errands. I’ll be out of your hair in a minute.”

Gabe ran into the bathroom and Pete smirked. “We’re so close to being alone,” he said. “So, you wanna try out some toys? Do you play anything?”

  
“Lots,” Patrick said. “But definitely the drums.”   
  
“Oh nice, no one plays the drums,” Pete said. “Go ahead.”   
  
The drum set was amazing. It felt new, nothing like the 10-year-old set that collected dust in Patrick’s basement. He tapped a couple of things out, keenly aware that Pete was literally sitting on the floor staring up at him. But once he realized how amazing these drums were, he stopped caring. He started messing around with them, really leaning into it, happy to be around someone who knew that he was playing music and not just making noise. He could feel that he and Pete were different, from the neighborhoods they lived in to the coffee they drank to the fact that Pete was obviously living Patrick’s dream life. But he knew that they could get to know each other through this, through playing and talking about and loving music.

Patrick barely noticed when Gabe came out of the bathroom. Suddenly Gabe was in front of him, smiling and nodding his head to the beat. Patrick stopped playing.   
  
“You’re pretty good, kid,” Gabe said. Suddenly, he got serious. “Look, I want you to know I haven’t been avoiding your friend, okay? It’s just weird to date someone when you’re sleeping on your friend’s couch.   
  
“Uh, okay,” Patrick said. “I think you should tell Bill that.”   
  
“Do all of his friends call him Bill?”   
  
Patrick nodded.   
  
“That’s so weird. What an old-man name.”   
  
“ExCUSE me, Gabriel, you are cutting in on my Patrick time,” Pete whined. “Aren’t you running errands? Goodbye!”   
  
“Yeah, bye, dude,” Gabe smirked. “Be nice to our new friend Patrick.”   
  
And then Gabe was gone, and Patrick realized that he was totally alone. With a boy. A really hot boy. This was totally new territory.   
  
“You’re SO good,” Pete cooed. “I can’t believe you’re that good. And you’re how old?”   
  
“I’m seventeen.”   
  
“Holy shit, no you’re not.”   
  
“Um, yes I am?”   
  
Pete smiled, his eyes darkening. “You are gonna get me in so much trouble, Pattycakes.”   
  
Before Patrick could even try to figure out what that meant, Pete jumped up and grabbed a guitar. “Do you play this?” he asked.   
  
“Yeah, a little.”   
  
“And you sing?”   
  
“Uh, no.”   
  
“Come on, would you sing for me?” Pete pouted. Patrick rolled his eyes.   
  
“Okay,” he said.   
  
“Yes!” Pete sat on the couch and patted the space next to him. Patrick took the guitar and settled next to Pete.

 

“What should I play?”   
  
“Anything,” Pete said.   
  
Patrick thought for a second about what to play, and for some reason he decided on “Let’s Get It On.” He sang quietly, and after a couple of lines Pete stopped him.   
  
“You cannot play that song and not sing it as loud as possible,” Pete instructed. “Start over.”   
  
So Patrick did. And he thought he sounded pretty good. He exaggerated his voice and sang as low as he could. He thought he sounded pretty funny. And then he looked at Pete, whose eyes were dark and whose mouth was wide open. Patrick stopped playing.   
  
“Are you okay?” he asked.   
  
“You’re a fucking legend,” Pete said. And suddenly he lunged at Patrick, kissing him so hard their teeth crashed together. Patrick pulled away, mostly out of shock. Pete laughed.   
  
“Let’s get this out of the way,” he said, throwing the guitar on the ground. “I’ve wanted to do this since I first saw you.”    
  
And then he was kissing Patrick again, pulling himself onto Patrick’s lap. God, he tasted good. Patrick pulled Pete close, purely out of instinct, and Pete rolled his hips into Patrick’s. Patrick moaned into the kiss. He was embarrassed for a millisecond, but Pete gripped his hair and pulled him closer and Patrick moaned again. It was all so overwhelming. Patrick slipped his fingers under Pete’s shirt and Pete’s breath hitched. It felt so good, so different, to actually BE with somebody. And then Pete unbuttoned Patrick’s jeans.   
  
Patrick snapped away. Pete furrowed his brow. “Everything alright?”   
  
“I’ve never done this,” Patrick whispered.   
  
“Sex?”   
  
“No, like… any of this. Kissing like this. Going out. Any of it.”   
  
“Oh,” Pete said. He climbed off of Patrick. “Oh.”   
  
“Yeah. I didn’t know what to say or how to say it. I even thought maybe I could fake it, but… I don’t know, I’m not ready.”   
  
“For anything?”   
  
“Maybe some stuff. I don’t know. It felt good.”   
  
“That’s okay,” Pete said, although Patrick couldn’t help but hear disappointment in his voice. “We can go at your speed, whatever you wanna do.”   
  


“And I start senior year in two days.”   
  
Pete laughed. “You’re not the first high school senior in this apartment.”   
  
Patrick blushed and looked away He suddenly felt really out of place.

  
“Hey,” Pete said. “It’s fine. Really. Let’s order some pizza and watch a movie and see a show. I’ll only kiss you if you let me.” He smiled, and Patrick couldn’t help but smile back.   
  
Pete ordered a pizza while Patrick looked through his extensive collection of 80s movies on DVD. He had planned on avoiding kids’ movies so he could seem older, but he realized quickly that all Pete owned were kids’ movies. Maybe he didn’t need to feel so out of place after all.   
  
They ate pizza and watched Ghostbusters. They talked through most of it, and somewhere in the middle of a heated conversation about the sex appeal of Bill Murray, Patrick realized he and Pete were holding hands. He was shocked at how easy it was to be with Pete, to touch him and to look at him and to be looked at by him. Dating (is that what this was?) used to be so intimidating. Patrick wondered what he had ever been afraid of.    
  
When the movie was over, they had about a half hour to spare. Pete put the TV on a random channel, “for background noise.” They talked more about Bill Murray, and then suddenly they were kissing again, Pete sprawled on top of Patrick, the heat of his body and his mouth overwhelming without being scary. Pete bit Patrick’s lip, and Patrick moaned, gripping the fabric of Pete’s hoodie. He wanted more, but Pete didn’t try anything, and Patrick didn’t know how to ask.   
  
The show was in a warehouse close to Pete’s apartment. “These guys are friends of mine, but that doesn’t mean they’re good,” Pete warned when they got there.   
  
The warning was not enough. This was a terrible, terrible band. Patrick tried dancing to it, but eventually he gave up in favor of standing on the wall and drinking the beer Pete had bought him. Pete stayed in the crowd for a while, leaving Patrick feeling alone, out of place, and very very young. He wasn’t sure if this qualified as a date, and if it did, he wasn’t sure that it qualified as a good one.   
  
After about 20 minutes, Pete bounced over to Patrick, sweaty and hyped up. His eyeliner was running down his face. He looked like a crazy person.   
  
“You wanna get out of here?” he said. Patrick nodded.   
  
They spent the rest of the show making out in the back of Pete’s car, their body heat causing the windows to steam up. Pete kept moaning Patrick’s name, his full name, not a bunch of nicknames. But he wouldn’t unbutton Patrick’s jeans again, and Patrick was too afraid to try it on Pete. Anyway, he liked this. He liked breathing Pete in and feeling his hair and tasting him. It felt good.   
  
After the show, Pete drove him back to Bill’s. “I’ll call ya,” he said.   
  
“Okay, cool.”   
  
“Hey, I mean it. I’ll call you. Tomorrow. Be by the phone.”   
  
Patrick laughed. “Okay.”   
  
“I’ll call you the day after that too.”   
  
“Well, that’s the first day of school.”   
  
“Doesn’t matter. I’ll still call you.”   
  
“You can text me.”   
  
“Texting is dumb, Tricky. I. Will. Call. You. You are gonna have some late nights on the landline. I don’t mess around.”   
  
Patrick couldn’t help but smile. “Looking forward to it.”   
  
“Cool.”   
  
Pete kissed Patrick. It was gentle, way different than the way they’d been kissing all day. For the first time, Patrick felt how soft Pete’s lips were, how nice his skin felt.   
  
“Night, Trick. Talk to you soon.”   
  
“Night, Pete. Talk to you tomorrow.”   
  
"Tomorrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello hello! Thanks for following along with this! Now that I kind of have a feel for what I'm doing, I'm realizing this is gonna be a long project, so please bear with me. I've wanted to write this for a while, and I'm really excited for it to unfold! Kudos and comments always appreciated <3


	3. August: Brendon

Brendon’s mom always made a big breakfast on the first day of school. Every year, he scarfed it down while his mom explained the importance of grades and not getting distracted by friends and girls. He wondered when he would be able to tell his parents that girls were in no way a distraction.   
  
“I know you have your routines with your friends, but that needs to take a backseat this year. College applications, SATS, all of that comes first,” his mother said, finishing her speech. Brendon nodded, stuffing his face with bacon.   
  
Patrick’s car horn honked outside. “I don’t know how I feel about you running around in that junky car,” Brendon’s mom said.    
  
“It’s not even that bad,” Brendon said, kissing his mom on the head and running out the door before she could argue.   
  
“Wow, you’re looking surprisingly normal,” Bill said the second Brendon slid into the backseat of the car. Brendon pulled his hair.   
  
“Yeah, too bad you look like a homeless person,” he shot back.   
  
“I happen to look very cool,” Bill replied.   
  
“Kids, if you don’t settle down I’m going to turn this car around,” Patrick said.   
  
“Please do,” Bill groaned. “I am not looking forward to school.”   
  
“Bren, did your mom complain about my car again?” Patrick asked.    
  
“Yeah, she’s really worried about how junky it is.”   
  
“Oh, well tell her to get you a car and we’ll be all set,” Bill said. Brendon laughed.   
  
They talked about nothing on the 15 minute drive to school. Brendon swiped some eyeliner on and got some flack from Patrick and Bill about it, but he just made faces at them until they stopped. They were getting better at not teasing him about all the stuff he did when he was dating Ryan, and Brendon knew that they teased him because they didn’t like Ryan. They thought he was an asshole, constantly breaking up with Brendon and getting back together. They didn’t know why Ryan kept doing it, and Brendon was too embarrassed to tell them that it was because Ryan couldn’t handle Brendon not being out to his parents. Brendon never told his friends why Ryan kept getting fed up with him, and his friends probably thought the worst. But Patrick and Bill were already out to their families, and it was relatively painless. Brendon knew they had no idea how bad it would be if Brendon’s mom ever found out.   
  
When they got to school, Bill said, “Well, are we doing this together, or do you have to wait for Yoko?”   
  
“He’s not that bad.”   
  
“He’s almost that bad.”   
  
“Can we please just wait for him?”   
  
Bill rolled his eyes. “Alright, fine. But we’re only waiting five minutes so he better hurry up.”   
  
The boys got out of the car and headed to the front entrance. Bill said ‘hi’ to a bunch of people and chatted to a couple who wanted to know how his summer was. Bill was definitely the most popular out of the three of them. He was really involved in things like yearbook and the literary magazine and the student newspaper, which made him seem mysterious and cool. Patrick was pretty well-known, too, because of band. Brendon was on National Honor Society, which didn’t really get a lot of friends, but his relationship with Ryan made him the subject of more than one conversation at lunch. Brendon had always been happy about how much he and his friends did. It made him feel good that they weren’t known for just being the gay friends.   
  
“Baby!!!” Ryan screamed from behind Brendon. Brendon turned around and Ryan immediately kissed him, pulling him close and grabbing his hair. Brendon smiled into the kiss. He would never have admitted this, but sometimes he liked being the center of attention.   
  
“Great, he found us,” Patrick deadpanned.   
  
Ryan pulled away to glare at Patrick. “Hello, Patrick,” he said. “How’s Pete?”   
  
Patrick blushed. Brendon knew that he and Pete had gone out once, and they talked on the phone constantly, which was weird. Patrick was so inexperienced, he kept texting Brendon for advice. It was cute, but Brendon knew Patrick was embarrassed by it.   
  
“He’s doing great,” Patrick said, his voice cracking.   
  
“Yeah, well, you’re welcome. I heard he finally made you a little bit of a man,’ Ryan replied. Patrick turned redder and his hands curled into fists.    
  
“Hey,” Brendon said to Ryan, “Cool it.”   
  
Ryan stared at Brendon, but he let it go.    
  
They all walked into school together, Ryan holding Brendon’s hand. Brendon knew it was something Ryan was doing to tell everyone in the school they were back together, but it still felt good. They had broken up right at the beginning of the summer, and going to shows and coffee shops and movies without him for two months had been horrible.   
  
“See everyone at lunch,” Bill said, heading to the Language Arts wing. “Usual table, right?”   
  
Brendon nodded. He was jealous of Bill, who was taking five english classes and one math class, and Patrick, who was in different versions of band every period. Brendon’s parents had pressured him into taking a traditional AP courseload this year, including history, biology, and two blocks of calculus, all of which he hated. At least Ryan was in his European History and English LIterature classes. He had visions of a bunch of study sessions that melted into quiet, secret sex in his bedroom. That would make up for this awful year.   
  
“Ready to go, baby?” Ryan asked. Brendon nodded.    
  
Brendon’s first two periods were with Ryan, so Brendon spent the first couple hours of school sitting in the back and passing notes, not paying attention to the teachers’ lectures on how important homework would be and how it was impossible to write a good essay the night before it was due.    
  
“Can you come hang out Friday night? No one’s home, so I was thinking of having a party, and you could sleep over,” Ryan said in the hall after English.   
  
“I’ll have to see. It’s my night with the guys,” Brendon responded.   
  
Ryan huffed. “You can’t take one Friday night off with the guys? Come on, it’s senior year. We don’t have a lot of Fridays left together.”   
  
Brendon’s stomach dropped. He hated thinking about how soon everything would change, how he would be thrust out into the world without training wheels. It scared him. He wanted to stay here forever, with Bill and Patrick and Ryan, just some teenagers trying to get through the day.   
  
“I don’t have a lot of Fridays left with them,” Brendon said. “It’s tradition. It started way before I met you. I can’t ditch for my boyfriend.”   
  
“Becasue they hate me,” Ryan said.   
  
“They do not.”   
  
“They never invite me anywhere and they’re always being dicks to me. What did I ever do to them?”   
  
“They’re just really protective.”   
  
“They don’t need to be protective. You’ve got more experience than both of them.”   
  
“I know. It’s hard to explain.”   
  
Ryan rolled his eyes. “Well, I’ll see you at lunch. They can’t keep me from eating with you.” He kissed Brendon on the cheek and strutted away.   
  
The next two periods were agony for Brendon. He didn’t have any classes with Bill or Patrick this year, so he was pretty much alone until lunch. In biology, he was assigned a lab partner named Hayley, a new girl with shocking red hair and wearing two studded belts. She immediately informed him that she was a sophomore, but if he was gonna bully her for being a nerd she would end him. After that, he didn’t talk much to her, but she seemed nice enough.    
  
Finally, lunch came around. Brendon went straight to the same table he had eaten at for the past three years- the table under a giant oak tree just outside of the cafeteria. Bill was already there, reading some book Brendon was certain was obscure.    
  
“Hey Bill,” Brendon said. “How’s your day been?”   
  
“Not bad. How’re your nerd classes?”   
  
“Bad. But whatever. Ryan’s in a couple of my classes and my lab partner seems okay.”   
  
“Always looking on the bright side, Bren. Never change.”   
  
Patrick joined them, carrying drum sticks and a trumpet case. “Hey, sorry I’m late. Band ran kinda late. Where’s the boy toy?”   
  
As if on cue, Ryan came out of the cafeteria, carrying a tray with two servings of popcorn chicken and a mound of fries.   
  
“Did he buy you lunch?” Patrick asked.   
  
“No, that’s just how he eats,” Brendon responded.    
  
Ryan stuffed his face while Brendon and Patrick and Bill talked about senior year.   
  
“What about prom, you guys?” Patrick said. “We all kind of have boyfriends, so we might have dates!”   
  
“I think Bren is still the only one with a boyfriend,” Bill said. Ryan grunted in agreement.   
  
“I have a boyfriend,” Patrick replied. “Well, almost. We talk all the time.”   
  
“Dude, Pete’s, like, a million years old,” Bill said.   
  
“So is Gabe.”   
  
Bill blushed. “Well, I never said he’s my boyfriend.”   
  
“Are you even seeing him again?” Brendon said.   
  
“Actually, yes. On Saturday night we’re going to a movie. We’ve been texting nonstop since Sunday, but he hasn’t texted me today.”   
  
“Uh-oh,” Ryan teased.   
  
“Shut up. He’s starting his new job today,” Bill shot back, but he looked really uncomfortable.    
  
“What is he doing?” Brendon asked.   
  
“I never really, uh, asked. We were talking about other stuff.”   
  
“Like?” Patrick asked.   
  
Bill blushed hard and looked into his book. “Just getting to know each other.”   
  
“Oh my GOD,” Ryan said. “You had phone sex with him.”   
  
“Shut up!” Bill growled.   
  
“You definitely did. Bren and I have phone sex all the time.”   
  
“Wait, you actually had phone sex with him?” Patrick asked.   
  
“Yeah, whatever,” Bill replied. “I have to get to class.” He got up and stalked off.   
  
“You really pissed him off,” Brendon said.   
  
“So?” Ryan replied. “The truth is the truth.”   
  
“You don’t need to be a dick,” Brendon shot back.   
  
“Jesus, calm down,” Ryan said. Then he left, flipping his hair.   
  
Patrick whistled. “He’s in a mood, isn’t he?”   
  
“I should follow him,” Brendon replied.   
  
“Come on, Brendon. He’s being an ass.”   
  
“I don’t know. Maybe he’s just stressed because of school.”   
  
“Well he can’t sit with us and shit all over us. We’re stressed too.”   
  
“I really should go after him,” Brendon said.   
  
“God Brendon, fine. Go ahead.”   
  
Brendon knew Patrick was upset, but he also knew he needed to see Ryan. He went into the cafeteria and found Ryan throwing his garbage out.    
  
“Hey,” Brendon said. “I’m sorry.”   
  
Ryan rolled his eyes and smiled. “It’s not a biggie. Hey, I wanna skip.”   
  
Brendon groaned. “It’s the first day.”   
  
“Yeah, the first day of senior year. Come on, it’s not a huge deal.”   
  
Brendon sighed. “Okay, let’s go.”   
  
They wandered out of school, past the freshman gym class, to the bleachers by the football field. This was their place, the place they’d gone to smoke weed and talk about the future for the past two years, before they even started dating, before they admitted they liked each other.    
  
“What are you missing right now?” Ryan asked, laying down and swinging his legs onto Brendon’s lap.   
  
“AP Bio,” Brendon responded. “You?”   
  
“Poetry.”   
  
“I think Bill has that class.”   
  
“Yeah, I can’t wait for him to write hate poems about me.”   
  
“They don’t just sit around talking about how much they hate you. It’s not a huge part of their day.”   
  
“They always get mad at me. I always say the wrong thing.”   
  
“Not always. They just get really sensitive.”   
  
“They should be thanking me. I got them boyfriends.”   
  
“Yeah, true. They’re cool guys by the way.”    
  
“You should come to the party on Friday. They’ll be there.”   
  
“Maybe I will.”   
  
“I don’t like all this ‘maybe’ stuff, Brendon Urie. How can I convince you?”   
  
Brendon smiled. Ryan smiled. Ryan sat up and kissed Brendon’s neck. “Is this convincing you?” he whispered.   
  
“Close.”   
  
Ryan straddled Brendon’s hips. He kissed him hard. “How about now?”   
  
Brendon smiled. “Keep convincing me.”   
  
Ryan grabbed Brendon’s waist and kissed him. Brendon carded his fingers through Ryan’s hair. They made out for a long time. Brendon could feel his lips chapping. Ryan started to roll his hips into Brendon’s, and Brendon grabbed Ryan’s ass to bring him closer.    
  
“Please come over Friday,” Ryan whispered, biting Brendon’s neck. “Please, I want to fuck so bad.”   
  
“Okay,” Brendon groaned. “Okay, you convinced me.”   
  
Ryan smiled and kept kissing Brendon. They made out for the rest of the period, until they heard the bell ring from across the field. Ryan pulled away, giggling.   
  
“Oh shit, we better go,” Ryan said. “Let’s meet at your locker after school, okay?”   
  
“Okay.”   
  
“Cool. Love you.”   
  
“Love you,” Brendon said. Ryan kissed his cheek and started running toward the school.   
  
Brendon spent the rest of the day smiling through classes, not paying attention. He looked at all the couples in the hallways and wondered if they had hours, days, weeks, years like he had with Ryan. Ryan was his soulmate, he knew it. Ryan made him better. Screw his parents, screw his friends. He and Ryan were going to grow old together.   
  
At the end of the day, he trudged to his locker. The last part of his day- calculus- was agony, and he couldn’t wait to leave. Ryan got to the locker first. He kissed Brendon on the cheek.   
  
“How was the rest of your day?” Ryan asked.   
  
“Okay,” Brendon said, shrugging. “Not as good as the first part of my day.”   
  
Patrick came running to Brendon’s locker. “Bill’s not here yet, right?”   
  
Brendon shook his head.   
  
“Did he text you?” Patrick asked.   
  
“I haven’t checked.”   
  
“Okay, well just go easy on him. You too, Ryan. No jokes.”   
  
“What the fuck are you talking about?” Brendon asked.   
  
Then Bill came up to the locker. He looked like he was going to be sick. “We need to go. Now,” he whispered.    
  
“What’s wrong?” Brendon asked.   
  
Bill looked around, then said, barely audible, “Gabe is my goddamn poetry teacher.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am SO sorry this took such a long time- I will be better about posting I promise!


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